1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of discharging air that has been used for cooling a battery installed in a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
In electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles, a battery such as a lithium-ion battery or a nickel hydride battery is installed for driving an electric motor. The battery degrades when the temperature of the battery increases. In such a kind of vehicle, air is delivered to the battery to cool the battery. In a case where all the air which has cooled the battery is discharged outside the vehicle, introduction of outside air is required. However, since outside air is at a higher temperature than the room temperature, for example, in summer, the efficiency of cooling a vehicle room by air-conditioning decreases, resulting in impaired fuel efficiency.
Accordingly, a vehicle is known in which for an improvement in the fuel efficiency, relatively low-temperature air in a vehicle room is delivered to a battery, the air which has cooled the battery is discharged into a narrow space between a body outer panel and a side trim that is an interior material of the vehicle which is provided on a side surface of a cargo compartment and the discharged air is returned to the vehicle room (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-231321 (JP 2002-231321 A)).
An insertion opening through which a webbing of a seatbelt apparatus is inserted is formed in the side trim at a position near a seatback of a second seat. Further, in JP 2002-231321 A, the air in the vehicle room is drawn in and delivered to the battery, thus providing negative pressure in the vehicle room. Therefore, in JP 2002-231321 A, the air discharged into the narrow space between the body outer panel and the side trim blows out from the insertion opening and returns into the vehicle room because of the negative pressure in the vehicle room. Accordingly, in JP 2002-231321 A, the air blowing out from the insertion opening contacts a passenger on a rear seat, and the passenger may thereby feel uncomfortable.